i have not written in two weeks! just been travelling and visiting and not writing. it happens like that sometimes.
below are several posts that i published today. they are individually dated on the day they happened, so if you scroll all the way down (you will prolly have to click "older posts" at the bottom), you should read from the last post published today and read upwards.
that way, it will make sense!
Sunday, November 29, 2009
a day at panera!
sunday, november 29, 2009
today, katherine has homework (graphic design side work) to do, and i have not updated this blog (my yob) in two weeks (!!), so we are at panera bread in jacksonville having coffee and sweets and spending the day online, writing and creating.
it’s good to catch up on my writing as this blog will stand as a record of this 100 days roadtrip, and i am happily responsible for finishing it! i will admit that it is difficult to get into after not writing for two weeks, but this post is the last one in my catching-up and this along with spending the day at panera sitting across the table with my katherine while she too works, makes me smile.
tomorrow, i will leave this peaceful place and drive south & west (!!) to my brenny’s for a few days!
st augustine & orange park
friday, 11/27 & saturday 11/28, 2009
friday katherine, robin, aiden, and i went to st augustine for the day. it was SUCH a beautiful day, and i guess since everyone had the day after thanksgiving off, it was really crowded. but it was so much fun walking around the shops & the old town. we had lunch (mexican!!) at a super nice restaurant and spent the day in beautiful florida sunshine.
we stopped and visited the cathedral basilica of st augustine. america’s first parish, founded in 1565 SO pretty!!
on the way out of st augustine, we stopped by the ponce de leon fountain of youth, but didnt tour it as it was getting late, but the trees in the area over the street were so pretty, i couldn't help but stop and take a few pictures. the trees look as if there is lava flowing on the branches, but it is only the sun shinning on them. the effect was brilliant!
friday night, when we got back, katherine watched aiden for a few hours while robin and i went out to the bar where tom is manager. we sat and had a few sodas and helped one of the dancers celebrate her birthday with cupcakes! it was fun to see where tom works and robin works sometimes as a bartender. its really a nice place!
on saturday, katherine and i drove out to orange park, where i used to live when we got back from okinawa, in 1975. i could not recognize the neighborhood, but did recognize the house when i saw it.
i remembered that there was a dairy queen and a winn dixie in the neighborhood. katherine spied the dairy queen!!
and what we thought could have been the grocery store way back when, which now is a church:
we drove past jax nas (the naval air station) where mom used to go to the commissary, when she wasnt going to stuckey’s (heehee):
after we got home, robin and aiden came over and spent the evening. it is so relaxing here, i could just quit the trip right now and stay living in florida. i wish.
a long road to turkey and my girls!
thursday, november 26, 2009
happy thanksgiving!
it was hard to leave foley and my beck. we packed up the vibe with my stuff and some stuff becky wants to get to brenny, then i was on my way east – 407 miles to be exact – across the panhandle of florida to the easternest coast to spend thanksgiving with my girls – katherine and robin, and theirs.
katerine & jeff’s house is SO sweet! it’s on a little road away from the big neighborhoods settled back in the florida woods with the edward’s creek & pumpkin creed marshland right behind. it’s such a peaceful place! and crawling with peacocks – i mean everywhere. they roam freely through the neighborhood. a neighbor had two, some 50 years ago, and they have simply proliferated. it’s the coolest thing to be sitting on the porch and see peacock and peahens wander through the yard!!! there is even a white one!
robin and tom brought a deep fried turkey for thanksgiving and katherine made lots of yummy dishes to go with it. i got to meet aiden, robin & tom’s 3 year old son. he is so adorable, and sweet, and smart, and such a love-bug!!! i want to take him home with me, yep. he even helps with the yard work!!
my beck
tuesday 11/24 – wednesday 11/25, 1009
tuesday we woke up and sat at the table and visited, catching up on our lives, went to the grocery to get stuff to make tacos (!!), then came home, made tacos, and visited some more.
wednesday, we went to gulf shores. 
then, we visited the happy shak, 
michael met us there to say hi. he hasnt changed a single bit, and it was good to see him.
on the way back to becky’s, we passed a cotton field, so she stopped and i got out and picked some cotton!!!! hahahahaha
we stopped at walmart where becky works to pick up some stuff for dinner. went back to beck’s and made beefaroni and lemon bars, talked into the night again. i love my beck. tomorrow is thanksgiving and time to continue the drive east.
louisianna, mississippi, alabama!
monday, november 23, 2009
since i am travelling alone and really want to get home sooner than later, the trip now is about getting to friends and family’s homes for visits, as opposed to sightseeing. and that’s okay!!!!
i was in three states today, zip, zam, zoom. i woke up in louisiana fog, and hung around the truck stop until it lifted a little, but further down the highway, it was there!
later, i crossed over a bayou!!! that was pretty neat.
as everyone knows, there is ALOT to see in louisiana, but i was making time and didnt stop to see anything. no big. ive seen new orleans before, and just didnt have time this trip. maybe next time. hello louisiana, goodbye louisiana!
hello mississippi!
i lived in mississippi when i was a little girl, and was really excited to go visit the house i lived in there. i got off rt 10, and onto rt 90 so i could drive along the gulf coast through biloxi. i remember going to edgewater plaza, which is now edgewater mall:
i stopped at the beach, and walked along the gulf waters and picked up a few oyster shells. the beach was SO clean. they do a really great job cleaning up the sand after all the hurricanes they get here.
once in ocean springs, i stopped at lovelace’s drugs. i really dont remember it, but brenda did, so i stopped and had a cherry coke for her and took these:
then i drove over to 1615 east porter street. the house we lived in when i was in first grade. i recognized it! i there was a car in the driveway, so i knocked at the door. no answer. i wanted to take pictures, so i went to my car to write a note to leave on the door in case a neighbor told the owners that someone was around taking pictures. then, a woman asked “can i help you?” her name is dee, and she is the owner now. i explained that i used to live here with my family back in the 60’s and she was delighted to show me around. (!!) we went inside, and she explained that the house was build in 1895, and had suffered some structural damage during katrina and ivan, and she had been trying to get the damages repaired with little luck, due to un-trustworthy contractors. the house had been remodeled some, and was used as a day-care for years prior to her buying it in 1991.
it still needs ALOT of work as the water damage has caused mildew, and the house itself needs to be jacked up and leveled. i was so happy to see my old room, and the closet that i used to play in. it was my imagination closet and i used to believe i could float and fly in there (the imagination of a 6 year old!)
the yard is not as big as i remember it, but that is prolly because dee has put a house right 
i left ocean springs, and headed east (!!) crossing into alabama at night:
i got to becky’s (!!) awesome new apartment expecting to see her for a bit and then she go off to work, but she has taken the night off – yay! we sat up until 5:30 in the morning talking :o). then hit the bed hard. whew! what a day!!
life is good in bourne
thursday, november 19 – sunday, november 22, 2009
on thursday, peggy’s mom left to go back to new york. she is such a sweetheart!!! we talked about the old days, living on andrews when we were all together. it was great. i spent thursday cleaning out the vibe, and re-arranging everything for travelling by myself. i felt SO accomplished. then i took a bath in the biggest bathtub in the universe and made dinner ready for when peggy got home from work.
here are some pictures taken yesterday with julia, kristen, and peggy’s mom:
friday i spent the day in bed (!!) watching a marathon of old project runway episodes (and taking ANOTHER bath in the biggest bathtub in the universe!!). hahahahah it was ultimate luxury! tonight peggy hosted a chocolate martini party and i helped make snacky foods and cleaned up the house a bit. it was really really fun meeting her friends and drinking chocolate martini’s all night.
saturday, both peggy and i lounged around all day, kristen went to baby-sit a friend’s twins. we watched silly you-tube videos and tried (with success!!) to find luke slay on facebook. it was really amazing to re-connecct with him. he is married and living in southern maryland with a 6 year old son. i hope to visit him when i get back home and settled. actually, we all plan to get together at least for our fiftieth (!!) birthdays in 2011!!
saturday night, peggy went to the airport to pick up her son, kyle, who was coming home from college in west virginia, for thanksgiving break. kristen, tyler (her ex-boyfriend/best friend) and peggy’s brother kevin’s son, brian, and i met them out for dinner (mexican!!). we had such a great time, sitting outside on the patio listening to a guy play guitar and sing. kristen and tyler even went up and sang a song!! it was great!
sunday morning i did laundry and re-packed and hit the road. it was so hard to leave, and peggy’s invitation to stay as long as i want was so inviting, i almost didnt leave. but i do have a road-trip to finish. :o(
some goodbye pictures:
leaving san antonio, heading east (!!) realizing it is really difficult to drive AND take pictures, i crossed into louisiana:
it started to get foggy, so i stopped and slept in a truck stop in sulpher, la, for the night.
go home day & stay awhile longer
wednesday, november 18, 2009
this morning, julia re-packed her suitcase for airline travel, and off we went to the san antonio airport. the goodbye was bittersweet because i didnt want her to leave, yet she was so happy and excited to get home to her dad and friends.
happy trails, my baby!
she called later to say that she arrived home to maryland safe and soundio :o)
peggy had taken the afternoon off, and took me and her mom out to lunch (mexican!!), then we drove around and she showed us her very first house (!!) and places she used to go. it was fun re-living her past with her. she has come so far in life, and i am so very proud of her!!
peggy has asked me to stay with her for as long as i want. i have decided to stay until sunday.
san antonio bound!!
tuesday, november 17, 2009
it’s a good thing that we stopped and stayed at that motel last night because the roads were littered with dead deer today. last night’s driving was getting tiresome and with no truck stops or ewpls on the horizon, and deer sighted at every curve of the road, the motel was the best choice.
many more miles on rt 10 east, we decided to go into san antonio to visit the alamo since peggy was at work. i’d heard that the alamo was right in the middle of the city. i didnt believe it, but it’s true. there it was, right smack dab in the middle of the city. it’s surrounded by walls, and inside the walls are beautiful gardens and koi ponds, and… the alamo.
next was to go to bourne, just back west of san antonio, to see my high school friend, peggy. back in high school, martine (now in york, pa), peggy, and i were best friends. now, we are scattered to the winds with our own lives, and do not visit as much as we want to or should. it was SO great to see peggy again!!! her mom was visiting, and her daughter, kristen lives there with her. when peggy got home from work, we all went out to dinner (mexican!!) then stayed up visiting. peggy gave up her INCREDABLE bedroom for julia and i to stay in. it was like we were at a resort somewhere :o) huge comfy king sized bed, and the biggest bathtub in the universe!
tomorrow, is go home day for julia :o( this made kristen sad because she really likes julia and wished she could stay. it makes me sad, because julia is the best navigator and road trip buddy ever. but again, i understand. new mexico can break even the strongest :o)
the lodge at cloudcroft
monday, 11/16/09
after a glorious night’s sleep and an incredible bath :o) , laura took us into town to see the lodge at cloudcroft. (it’s charmed, you know). this beautiful 100-year old lodge has a ghost, named rebecca. laura took us on a tour of the lodge (unfortunately, we did not encounter rebecca), including the tower – where you can see all the way to white sands national monument (which, was too far out of the way to actually go and visit – next time!!) the tour was very cool, the lodge is a beautiful historical landmark.
here is a view of white sands from the tower:
after the tour, we gave big hugs and said goodbye, then headed east off the mountain and south, towards texas.
after driving for hours and hours, crossing into texas, we settled in for the night in a teeny motel in ozona, texas for the night.
home on the mountain
sunday 11/15/09
we left roswell today and continued to drive south into the desert. julia was pretty quiet, and when i asked her, she admitted that she was truely done with the road. (again, i cant blame her, the road gets long in the desert). at the beginning of this trip we had an agreement that if it didnt work out for whatever reason, she could fly home. we called her dad and he has made arrangements for her to fly out of san antonio next wednesday. it’s all good.
ahead, in the distance we see the sacramento mountains, and the lincoln national forest. we are headed to cloudcroft, to visit my friend, laura. i’d met laura in august at the standing bear sundance. laura & i became kindred souls and she’d said “if you are ever in new mexico…” so here we are, in new mexico, on our way up the mountain to see her :o)
she lives in a 120+ year old farm house, and we immediately felt at home. we visited for the afternoon and she was in the middle of cooking for a hunting lodge, so we went with her further into the mountains to deliver a nice, hot, home-cooked meal to the hunters. it was pretty cool, yep. we spent the night in her comfy bed and it felt good to be home :o)
julia fell in love with laura right away, and decided that she would come back maybe next year to stay a while and aunt laura will teach her to make teepees.
just outside laura’s living room windows there is a little waterfall that leads into the clearest little pond i’ve ever seen:
outlaws & aliens
saturday, november 14, 2009
we left the funky sweet route 66 motel this morning and drove back west (!!) because it was the way to get to ft. sumner. ft.sumner is a dinky little town that boasts billy the kid’s grave site. ft. sumner was established in the 1800’s to “keep an eye on” the indian tribes in that region. dont get me started.
we visited billy the kid’s grave, and i’d heard the appropriate respect was to toss a quarter on his grave. i didnt have a quarter, so i tossed two dimes and a nickle. no offense.
you may notice that the tombstone is shackled to the ground, that is because it has been stolen twice.
next stop was roswell. we drove a couple of hours to get here. in case you are wondering what it is like driving to roswell, here you go:
i dont know what we were expecting, but it’s a little disappointing. its a small/medium sized town 
roswell is also noted for the new mexico military institute:
julia and i had a long talk today. she is terribly homesick and said she was thinking that she might want to go home. she wants to see new orleans and florida, but those are a week and more away and she is missing home. i told her to sleep on it and we can talk about it again tomorrow. if she does go home, she will come with me to my friend laura’s, who lives a little west of here in couldcroft (up a BIG mountain), then we will travel to san antonio and she will take a bus or plane home from there. no decisions have been made, and tomorrow is another day, so we will see.
if she does go home, i will finish the trip alone, which is not so bad as i will be seeing family most every night anyway.
here are some beautiful new mexico sunset shots:
Saturday, November 14, 2009
east on route 66
friday, november 13, 2009
this morning, we visited the petroglyphs national monument. created eons ago when pueblo indians carved pictures ago on the lava rocks, it is right here in albuquerque. there are three trails you walk through to see the petroglyphs, one 5 mins, one 15 mins, and a 30 min one up a steep hill that kicked my butt :o)
afterwards, we went over to old town albuquerque and walked around a little bit. old town is awesome! there are little shops and galleries everywhere in little plazas and side streets.
we also visited iglesia de san filipe de neri. a beautiful 300 year old church right in the middle of old town.
i found this note above the holy water very interesting, very responsible, and a little sad.
there was so much to see, but it started raining (!!) so we left and headed east towards santa rosa.
stopping for gas at cline’s corners. there are 40 eleven billboards heading east on rt 40/66 that insist it is really worth the stop. the gas was 30 cents more expensive, but the gift shop was fun.
rt 66, aka the mother road, crosses new mexico underneath the current rt 40 for some of it, and off the beaten path for other parts of it. from albuquerque heading east,rt 40 goes through santa rosa, and some of route 66 goes off the highway to a part of town long forgotten. the road is still used, but not by many.
while in santa rosa, we stopped to see the rt 66 auto museum, of course. it was pretty cool, and julia had a great time photographing the old cars. i did, too :o)
santa rosa also prides itself on the blue hole. it is an interesting place in the middle of the desert. it is a 80 ft wide artesian-fed hole of the most beautiful blue water. used for eons by the pueblo people, and as a watering hole in the wild west days, it is now a very popular destination for scuba diving.
we lest santa rosa and headed east to our final destination of the day, tucumcari. rt 66 in tucumcari has loads of 50’s era motels & restaurants. it was fun photographing them (there’s one! oooh there’s one!! that one has it’s neon’s on!)
we had dinner at del’s
settling in for the night, we treated ourselves to a motel room. and what 
<----check out that sunset, would ya!?
tomorrow, we head towards roswell!
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